Even in well-organized agricultural countries with good veterinary coverage, the mortality among new-born animals such as calves and pigs is still very high. For example, in Denmark in 1980 there were destroyed about 180,000 calves, which corresponds to nearly 20% of the calves born every year. The cause of a number of the deaths among calves, and also of a number of corresponding deaths among sucking pigs, is that they become stressed when they are weaned and placed for example, in common sties or folds. When the animals are removed and thus no longer receive mother's milk, right up to half of the animals develop diarrhoea because they become stressed due to change of fodder, transportation etc. It is assumed that half of the deaths are due to diarrhoea which arises within the first month after their birth. A number of the calves also suffer from rota and corona virus infection, which is a contagious intestinal infection where cows are virus carriers and infect the calves. The disease is caused by i.a. strongly reduced production of lactase, so that the animals cannot decompose the lactose in the milk with which they are fed, and hereafter diarrhoea is quickly developed by osmotic effect in the intestinal canal. New-born calves and pigs with diarrhoea will loose considerably in weight because of dehydration and many die.
The object of the invention is to present a preparation for the treatment of diarrhoea, so that a very large number of the sick animals can be cured in very few days, whereby deaths due to loss of fluid is avoided and for the calves a higher growth rate is obtained.